"Adding this slash is my solemn choice for life"
——Dialysis the phenomenon of "slash youth"
【Focus·"Slash Youth"】
During the day, suits and shoes, talk about elegance; after get off work, vests and shorts, enthusiastic; unrestrained, incarnate as a writer, update the text in his own column. This is the daily life of company employee/fitness coach/freelance writer Cheng Yu. Right now, young people like Cheng Yu have a very "tide" label-"slash youth".
"Slash" ("/") was the first concept proposed by American columnist Merrick Alber in "One Person/Multiple Careers" to refer to people with multiple occupations and identities. The concept of "slash" entered China and it coincided with the youth culture. It became a popular fashion and life attitude for young people and became popular in social networks.
The "slash youth" seems to be just a superposition of one's identity, but it is actually a chemical effect produced by various factors such as economic and social changes and individual concepts. This is an indefinite multiple choice question in front of contemporary young people, and most people in the workplace have to fill in the answer.
Multiple choices given by the environment
Taking part in several jobs, maybe ten years ago was exclusive to rare talents, and now young people are commonplace.
According to a survey conducted by the China Youth Daily Social Survey Center on 1988 18-35 year olds, 52.3% of the youth surveyed confirmed that there were "slash youths" around them. The "Amphibious Youth Financial Demand Survey 2019" released by Qingyan Think Tank and other organizations shows that there are more than 80 million "amphibious" and "slash" youths such as part-time workers and entrepreneurs among the young people in the country. The post-80s to pre-95s are mainly crowded, and the highly-educated crowds occupy the mainstream of "amphibious" youth.
Why did the "slash youth" suddenly increase?
Yang Xiong, director of the Youth Research Institute of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said in an interview: "'Slash youth' is an inevitable product of social openness, progress, and change. Now our good and open social environment has made young people's thinking more and more Open, interest is getting wider and wider, and the possibility of choice is growing."
One saying is that "slash youth" is the product of the rapid development of emerging formats. With the economic development and industrial upgrading, beauty professions, paid consultants, digital management divisions and other emerging occupations have risen vigorously, providing more possibilities for multiple professionals. At the same time, the advancement and application of Internet technology have greatly changed the production organization and liberated the constraints on the work scene. When a person can become an independent service provider, "slash youth" has "growing soil".
Xi'an guy Che Hu is a freelance photographer. He spends half of his time filming each month, earning an average income of about 20,000 yuan per month. During the outbreak, Chehu’s photography orders were affected. He chose to join the slash family and registered as a takeaway rider to increase his income.
The 2020 Hungry Blue Knight Survey Report shows that more than half of riders have “multiple identities”: 26% of riders are also small and micro entrepreneurs, 4% are part-time self-media bloggers, and the riders may also be drivers, White-collar workers, etc.
At present, the rapid development of the mobile Internet platform has significantly improved the efficiency of temporary work distribution, expanded the audience and scale of "working odd jobs", and formed a gig economy. From part-time meal delivery to part-time design, writing, translation, and knowledge sharing, many "slash youths" like Chehu are emerging in the gig economy.
During the two sessions of the National People's Congress, Premier Li Keqiang attended the press conference and answered questions from Chinese and foreign reporters. He said that the new business format is now booming and about 100 million people are employed. Our gig economy also has 200 million people employed.
"Slash youth" is a diversified choice endowed by economic and social development, and at the same time feeds back economic and social development, injecting the vitality and temperament of young people into the environment.
Self-realization of the younger generation
"Slash" is a mapping of the environment and an individual choice. A survey from the China Youth Daily Social Survey Center also shows that more than half of the youth want to be "slash youths", and think that this can use time efficiently and enrich their lives. It can be said that "slash" is a group value orientation among contemporary youth.
Xiao Wu is a local radio anchor with more than ten years of work experience and stable income, but the actual work situation has sent him a message that makes him very helpless-he has limited room to rise. Faced with uncertain career prospects, he was reluctant to put eggs in a basket, so he integrated the radio work experience and developed the position of teacher of the art test for broadcasting. He said: "It is difficult to have a breakthrough in work in Taiwan, so I have to find my own way. The teacher of art test is the best way to cope with professional and career, alleviating the contradictory pressure between ideal and reality."
Chang Lai is a young counselor at Hunan Agricultural University, focusing on ideological and political education. At the same time, he is also a drama director and screenwriter. He launched the Hongju Society at Hunan Agricultural University. In 2011, he took his students to the Tangier International College Student Theatre Festival in Morocco and won three awards. Chang Lai also taught himself the guitar and registered as an exclusive contracted musician on the music platform.
"Poetry and distance can coexist with the life in front of you." Chang Lai believes that the life of multiple occupations is not to escape from their own work, but to do addition or even multiplication.
Many of the "slash youth" have the same attitude as Xiao Wu and Chang Lai. A survey from "Times Data" shows that the three main reasons for eagerness to become "slash youth" are to seek additional income, interest, self-investment and promotion. It can be seen that the "slash" is the value orientation of young people about self-development. It emphasizes the balance of diversity, as well as the exploration of personality and potential, and encourages the better integration of work, life and hobbies.
A study on "slash youth" published in the "China Youth Research" magazine analyzes the background of this value orientation: as part of modern society’s structured organization and stability norms are broken, flexible labor markets and structural Unemployment has emerged, dispelling the sense of job security of the young people in employment. Young people also face the dilemma of self-actualization, including the sense of powerlessness, lost sense of value and lack of self-identity in the profession, which forces them to re-find the meaning of work.
"Slash" is the self-realization pursued by young people in this context. The study pointed out that the slash youth completed self-realization through three ways: embedding, expressing, and identifying: embedding new work situations, thereby eliminating the sense of powerlessness brought by the risk society and the main job, and obtaining positive energy; integrating personal growth and professional development Integrate to obtain a true expression of self-worth; gain a sense of accomplishment in slash work, re-find the meaning to self and society, and thereby obtain self-identity.
"Slash" is a value, not a successful methodology
"Slash" life, it seems that both fish and bear paw can have both, but there are constantly different voices appearing, ringing the alarm for young people. "A lot of people who call themselves "slash youths". Let's take a look. Let's take a look. On the surface, they are pursuing a diversified life. In fact, they are blindly and superficially achieving success through rapid realization." Female contributor Pang Jinling Zhihu wrote in the column.
Pang Jinling believes that many people only see the enviable sense of control and accomplishment in the "slash youth", but they ignore the research on their personal brands and skills behind them. Some people's "slash" is the result of multi-dimensional improvement after learning about themselves, and some people's "slash" is a number of jobs other than their own job.
Many people hold a similar view, thinking that "slash youth" can easily be reduced to "part-time job", diversifying the time that should be focused on improving their own jobs, and working half an hour after working for 8 hours, but with half the effort.
The focus of the dispute is mainly on the boundary between "slash youth" and "part-time youth". In fact, "slash" as a reference to multiple identities and professionals, its original meaning is neutral. Part-time work and part-time work are different forms of "slash". "Slash" is no different from part-time work, and there is a contradiction between concentration and consideration.
The trend of "slash" on social media is often presented as a free and full-rounded versatile and the pioneer of the pursuit of ideals, so "slash youth" is often given an elitist and idealized image. But what should not be ignored is that people's time is limited. Choosing to manage multiple identities is destined to bear a variety of pressures, and is accompanied by the risk of "everything is not good".
"Slash" is a kind of youth's values, but it is not a method of youth's success and success. "The core of the "slash youth" is to actively explore a diverse life and make people have more choices. Whether it is a slash or not, you must carefully plan your career and live in peace, this is not a conflict." Cheng Yu Say.
"In fact, whether you want to be a'slash youth' or a super professional, you should first become a'core youth' - a person with inner drive, self-comparison and inner evaluation as the core. Only in this way can we make loyal choices and live a more prosperous and happy life." The media person Effie said.
(Reporter Li Danyang)